8 Replies - 8415 Views - Last Post: 10 May 2011 - 05:21 PM

Apple actually gives out open-Source code

I stumbled upon this a few days ago. It's a huge list of software/programs and its source code. Some of these include RubyGems, nano, nasm, vi, etc. I'm kind of surprised to see this as I thought a big company would keep its doors closed to the public.

Re: Apple actually gives out open-Source code

It was my understanding that all of the applications you just mentioned were open source anyway?

Well it's just to show what kinds of things to expect. It also contains UIKit/iOS/Mac stuff.

Well i just have to say this since i stumbled onto this: Apple has to get you interested somehow in getting on their stuff and developing for them. I'm not saying their evil in that way, they just know how to manipulate the market for their advantage(though i still can't figure out how they still sucker us into buying the ipods and all that though a good product very expensive). They've more suprises up their sleeve(especially with this Open source stuff), to show they aren't going to back down, and they need the public more than they want to publicly say. So i'll end this post with this: if you want someone to buy something, won't you make it seem free or give them this or that and they have to pay for hidden features? Apple is doing this in releasing this, however long ago it was, though you might have to have some of their products to run it.

Re: Apple actually gives out open-Source code

Posted 02 May 2011 - 09:30 AM

Apple is standing on the shoulders of Open Source giants. Much of what they publish, they are required by license to do so, because the project was open source to begin with. That's not to discredit them in any way, it's just the nature of the GPL and other similar licenses.

Re: Apple actually gives out open-Source code

Posted 10 May 2011 - 08:08 AM

Well i have to say this now, since i have to do a research project on Steve Jobs, i'm suprised they give out source code, just because of the sheer fact most articles mention apple being a company of secrecy, though there have been leaks of information. But they're not stupid they often misinform some employees just because of that fact.

Re: Apple actually gives out open-Source code

Posted 10 May 2011 - 08:24 AM

Again, it's not like they're opening source out of altruism. They built their OS X off of open source components. Some of the licenses don't require them to publish the source, and for those components, they don't. Some of the licenses do, and for those, they do.

Re: Apple actually gives out open-Source code

Posted 10 May 2011 - 09:52 AM

You know this is one of the misconceptions of Open Source. People always think that Open Source software is developed by a bunch of pimpley kids and collage drop-outs but actually most of the big Open Source project are being supported and developed by big corporations.

Why would that be you ask? Well there are lots of reasons but it usually boils down to money. It is cheaper to pay a couple of developers to work on adapting existing software to do what you need (or just donate money and "request" features) then to reinvent the software and risk legal action if you happen to "reinvent" a little too close to the original.

I have been paid to work on OSS projects and I have one friend who is full-time employed to work on Open Source software even though it is only one component is the software his company actually creates. Look at IBM and it support of both Linux and Eclipse.

Everyone wants to save money and lets face it - collaboration is a HUGE money saver. Why pay for the full thing when you can split the cost with others who need the same functionality.

Re: Apple actually gives out open-Source code

Posted 10 May 2011 - 05:21 PM

@milleja46 - if you're doing a research paper on Steve Jobs you may want to familiarize yourself with NextStep/OpenStep and its relation to unix like operating systems. NextStep was the OS from SteveJob's company after leaving Mac which was based off BSD that later became OSX when he rejoined Mac.